Pre-orders Order Editing

Before you begin

• Use this setting when customers need to edit unfulfilled orders more than 60 days old.
• Shopify's read_all_orders permission is required to access orders outside the standard recent-order window.
• The order must remain unfulfilled and unarchived.
• Review payment authorization, inventory, pricing, discounts, fulfilment, and connected-system behaviour for long-running orders.
• Customer-facing Order Editing extensions must still be installed.

How older pre-orders work

Order Editing treats an order more than 60 days old as an older pre-order for this permission flow. Granting access allows Order Editing to read these older orders and keep an eligible pre-order editable until it is fulfilled or archived.

This is an access permission, not a separate on/off toggle saved by Order Editing. Revoking read_all_orders removes the ability to load older orders.

The permission does not make every old order editable. Editing rules, restrictions, payment state, fulfilment, order state, and supported features still apply.

Grant access to older orders

1. In the Shopify admin, go to Apps > Order Editing.
2. Select App Settings.
3. Open Global settings.
4. Select Editing Time.
5. Select Show advanced options.
6. Find Pre-orders with unfulfilled items.
7. Select the permission action beside Allow customers to edit pre-orders until they are fulfilled or archived.
8. Review Manage pre-order editing.
9. Approve the read_all_orders permission in Shopify.
10. Return to Editing window and confirm the permission is granted.

You do not need to change the store-wide editing-window length solely to grant access to older pre-orders.

Understand eligibility

An older order needs all applicable eligibility checks to pass.

An order can be visible but unable to complete a specific edit. Read the customer or admin reason before assuming the age permission failed.

Prepare your operations

Older pre-orders can outlive normal operational assumptions.

Before launch:

1. Confirm the selling price and tax treatment that should apply to changes months after the original order.
2. Confirm variants and selling plans still exist.
3. Confirm inventory policy for products that changed or sold out.
4. Confirm the original payment method can support an additional charge or the configured payment-update flow.
5. Confirm discounts can be recalculated as intended.
6. Confirm your warehouse or 3PL has not already imported the order into a state where changes are unsafe.
7. Review Shopify Flow automations that fulfil, archive, tag, or disable editing on older orders.

Do not disable a Flow merely because it touches an older order. Change it only when its conditions conflict with the intended pre-order process.

Customer-facing behaviour

When the permission and eligibility checks pass, the customer can use the installed Order Editing experience for the older order. The interface shows the actions currently allowed by the matching rule and order state.

Editing ends when the pre-order is fulfilled or archived. It can also end earlier because of a rule, restriction, payment capture, staff action, or another eligibility decision.

If access is unavailable, the customer receives the applicable unavailable state instead of being given unrestricted access to the order.

Verify it's working

1. Find an existing controlled order that is unfulfilled, unarchived, and older than 60 days.
2. Grant read_all_orders.
3. Confirm the order matches the intended editing rule.
4. Open its customer Order status experience.
5. Confirm the intended editing actions appear.
6. Complete a low-risk test change.
7. Confirm the Shopify order, totals, and downstream system update correctly.
8. Test an archived or fulfilled old order and confirm editing is unavailable.
9. Test an applicable restriction or rule and confirm the older-order permission does not bypass it.

FAQ

Why is 60 days important?

Shopify limits normal app access to recent orders. The read_all_orders scope extends access to orders older than that standard window.

Is there a separate pre-order toggle?

No. The current advanced setting requests Shopify's read_all_orders permission. Eligibility then depends on fulfilment, archival, rules, restrictions, and the requested edit.

Does the normal fixed Editing Time close these older pre-orders?

The pre-order permission flow allows eligible older pre-orders to remain editable until fulfilment or archival. More specific editing rules and other order restrictions can still close or limit editing.

Why is the old order still unavailable after granting permission?

Check whether it is fulfilled or archived, whether the customer-facing extension is installed, which rule matched, and whether the payment, product, inventory, or requested action is supported.

Does this permission expose all old orders to customers?

No. It allows Order Editing to read older orders. The customer must still access their own supported order journey, and normal eligibility remains in effect.